Blizzard reveals Season of the Malignant for Diablo 4

The Caged Hearts house their own Legendary-level powers, such as causing critical hits to electrify enemies, and can be socketed into players' jewelry items. Throughout the season, all rings and amulets will drop with a festering socket that's either red, blue, or yellow, corresponding to different colored heart powers. However, there's a catch - players can only match like-with-like, so a blue heart cannot be slotted into a yellow socket. A fourth heart color, though rare, is universally applicable across the three sockets.

Players can expect a suite of 32 new powers exclusive to the Malignant Heart system. Tim Ismay, Diablo 4's lead producer for seasons, teased these new powers as "stupid broken," predicting their potential to enable innovative and intriguing builds during season 1.

To tailor the experience further, players seeking specific Malignant Hearts can dismantle existing hearts they encounter for a special crafting currency. Accumulating enough of this currency allows them to venture into Malignant Tunnels, a new activity space teeming with Malignant monsters. Here, a special enemy lurks at the end, guaranteed to drop a Malignant Heart of the player's chosen color upon defeat.

Aside from these enticing mechanics, Season of the Malignant promises new story content separate from Diablo 4's main plot, including new boss monster Varshan the Consumed, new Legendary Powers, and new Unique items.

In terms of accessibility, all non-seasonal characters living in the Eternal realm will have the chance to use the new powers and items. However, to access the season-specific content or increase their season pass level, players must create a fresh seasonal character from scratch on July 20, something that Blizzard confirmed already, much to the chagrin of newer fans.

Importantly, Blizzard maintains a staunch stance on the integrity of gameplay. All seasonal purchases will remain cosmetic, with players unable to buy in-game power with real-world cash - a significant shift from Diablo Immortal.

To ensure a fair and balanced experience, Blizzard plans to regulate patch releases during Diablo 4's seasons. Despite rapid adjustments to overpowered builds and items after Diablo 4's launch, Blizzard aims to minimize the nerfs and buffs each season, barring major emergencies or game-breaking issues.

If nothing else, Blizzard has already done an excellent job fine-tuning the Diablo 4 experience with the latest patch. We can expect the Season of the Malignant to be more of the same if not better.

As of the time of writing, Diablo 4 players will have a fortnight to ready themselves for the upcoming season. For now, the list of things to do and enjoy in Diablo 4 remains as long as ever, from completing the single-player campaign, looking for the Secret Cow Level, figuring out whether rats really do know where the good loot is, and discovering all the Altars of Lilith.